RE: Mozart was a bad composer...

[brian scott gaona <bgaona@students.uiuc.edu>]

Greetings f minors,	


I've always been a fan of Mozart,  just one of those points that I have to
be content to disagree with GG.  While I could give the old supports of
his music being "crystal clear," "structurally perfect," or just
"charming," (all of which are admittedly subjective at best,)  I think
it's important to the nature of the tastes of this mailing list to note
that in his last years, (after developing an acquaintance with Bach"s
music,) that he showed some brilliant displays of contrapuntal mastery
equalled by few composers.
	  Some examples include the last movement of the
Jupiter symphony,(w/double fugues, inversions, combinations of four
simultaneous motives,) Tafelmusik (read simultaneously upside down and
right side up,) even some of the canonic work in the last D major piano
sonata is impressive.     
	My main point is that while Mozart is unfortunately famous for
that "charm" and "clarity" and other superfluous aspects of his music,
he is still a brilliant and capable craftsman with a great mastery of the
more severe technical aspects of composition that we "miners" love.

-Brian 


On Fri, 5 Nov 1999, Thayer A wrote:

> 
> 
> > I'm sure Mozart would lose a lot of sleep over your analysis.
> > 
> Not the most convinving argument of all time I admit, but I really do hate
> most of his music (I'm not merely influenced by Gould's view, Mozart has
> never meant anything to me). Is there really something about Mozart's music
> which makes it stand out from Haydn and C.P.E. Bach, or are we just brought
> up to believe he was better? 
> 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From:	Thayer A [SMTP:A.Thayer@rhbnc.ac.uk]
> > > Sent:	Thursday, November 04, 1999 11:53 AM
> > > To:	'BONG'; 'f minor'
> > > Subject:	RE: Mozart was a bad composer...
> > > 
> > > > A very infantile and groundless quotation. If it's Gould, I can't
> > > respect
> > > > him any more.
> > > > 
> > > > Juozas Rimas
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > Personally I agree entirely with Gould. Mozart is a very over-rated
> > > composer, whose music is riddled with appalling cliches (and yes they
> > were
> > > cliches in his day not just ours). He has brief moments of quality, but
> > > the
> > > music always reverts to an appallingly obvious and over-used cadence,
> > > after
> > > a few brief seconds of interest. The early classical style was a case of
> > > musical degeneration, for me, not any kind of real advancement. It moves
> > > away from the tight structure and advanced counterpoint of Bach, but
> > does
> > > not acheive the same emotional quality as romantic music. I regard
> > Mozart
> > > as
> > > an important developmental composer, but this does not make him a great
> > > composer (same with Liszt in many ways). I think it is a case of Mozart
> > > having taken a step backwards, to allow later composers to take two
> > steps
> > > forwards. Anyway, I'm not going to bore you by ranting on about this
> > > forever. These are just my basic views on his music.
> > > 
> > > Andrew
> > 
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